In Somerville, Massachusetts, police have ramped up enforcement on people riding their bikes through red lights. Some cyclists and city leaders say they should be focusing resources elsewhere. City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen said he started looking into this issue when he started hearing from people who had been given warnings by the police department. “What we’re talking about here is…
Idaho first legalized the so-called"Idaho Stop" in 1982, which allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, and red lights as stop signs, when no pedestrians are present, and observed a 14.5% decrease in cyclist injuries from crashes the following year.
Somerville resident Jeff Byrnes wrote a letter signed by 17 other residents in support of the resolution. He argues allowing cyclists to get ahead of vehicles by continuing through a red light when it's safe to do so can provide some distance from traffic. "The biggest thing is that it takes cyclists and drivers out of conflict when a driver might be making a right hand turn, like a cyclist is proceeding straight or making a turn themselves. It's called the right hook. It's the most dangerous interaction that a cyclist and a driver have. Because the driver has very low visibility for the cyclist, even if they're right next to you," Byrnes said.
The Somerville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on this issue Thursday. In July, Captain James Donovan told the city's Public Health and Public Safety Committee that as part of a state grant for pedestrian and cyclist enforcement, at that time officers had stopped 198 cyclists, giving them written warnings.
"All this enforcement is educational. We're not looking to punish anyone or hurt anybody. It's mainly getting out there, our mission zero," said Donavan."As we all know, this city is becoming more congested, and I think with the increase in cyclists, we want to make sure that everyone is on the same page and we want to make sure our cyclists are safe.
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